La Gloria

Harry M. Miller was an Auckland showman, businessman and impresario who would turn his hand (not always successfully) to anything he thought would make money, thus in the late 1950s, as other NZ-owned labels found success, he decided to launch his own record label. He named it La Gloria, as it sounded exotic. Initially promoter Graham Dent was Miller’s partner in the venture, leaving in 1962.

Miller was also the brand new manager of the Howard Morrison Quartet who had already had several large hits for Eldred Stebbing’s Zodiac label and the group were taking the country by storm, not least because of Miller’s keen eye for every commercial opportunity – at one stage he had Howard selling washing machines. Taking advantage of the fact that Stebbing had no contract with his newly acquired charges, he quickly moved them to his own brand new label, where he released some 28 singles, at least four EPs and nine albums in the next four years.

Stebbing didn’t take this easily and a court action resulted in Miller having to destroy large numbers of Quartet pressings for copyright breach in 1962, ensuring on-going enmity between the two.

The Howard Morrison Quartet single of "My Old Man's An All Black", a mild protest remake of a current UK Lonnie Donegan hit ('My Old Man's A Dustman'), sold in excess of 60,000 copies making it one of the biggest New Zealand recorded singles ever.

The record was recorded live at the Pukekohe Town Hall on the last night of La Gloria's massively successful Showtime Spectacular tour in 1960.

Between 1960 and 1962 La Gloria also issued 13 singles, six EPs and two albums by Antoni 'Toni' Williams, a Rarotongan star who was part of the Howard Morrison Quartet touring troupe.

The label also had a string of massive hits with US twister Chubby Checker in 1962, having taken the Cameo label from Allied International.

La Gloria was nothing if not prolific, also recording Ricky May, Gray Bartlett and Bob Paris before Miller decided he wanted to head to Australia in 1963. Things were already strained both within the Quartet, and increasingly between the group and its pushy manager, so La Gloria was put on the market by the new partner Anthony Hollowes, allowing Miller to concentrate on his growing – and to him, more important – international touring business.

Eventually at the end of 1963 the label was sold to Viking Records, who kept it going for a few years, releasing records by The Dallas Four and Tom Thumb before finally folding it into the parent in 1967.

Miller quickly established himself in Australia, where he became both famous as one of the biggest promoters in the country, and controversial following a 10 month spell in jail for ticket fraud.